CHIEFS. 
351 
Kuri is not an uncommon name for a chief, it does not imply 
courage, and Te Kiore is also a common name, to denote 
cunning ; Governor Grey was so called, as Governor Brown 
was Kahu, the hawk. To find suitable names, however, 
even, for their greatest chiefs, they have been compelled to 
go to the sea : thus one, celebrated for his strength and 
courage, was called he ika , which, though the common 
name for fish in general, is, when applied to a man, solely 
referred to the mango , or shark, as celebrated for its strength 
and voracity, or to the taniwa, a supposed water monster of 
immense power, it has also occasionally been applied to the 
whale, thus Rongomai was a whale, and the chief offspring 
of Tangaroa, the great god of the ocean, were the different 
kinds of sharks. All their fabulous heroes were styled Ikas, 
great fish, and this being a complimentary name became 
afterwards a polite term of address : e ika, equivalent to sir, 
or noble sir. Ika is a term for a party, or tribe of men, also 
for the quarrels and battles of their chiefs. 
Every great chief erected a large house, he whare jouni , 
sufficient to contain all his followers, to which some signifi- 
cant name was affixed, and this house being spoken of 
expressed the chief and his people. Te tihi o Manono , the 
top-knot of Manono, &c. ; those who were deified are also 
said to have their houses ; many of them are constellations, 
as te whare o te whieu .* 
A chief speaks of his tribe as his house or family, as all 
were accustomed to assemble in his great whare jpuni ; if any 
of his tribe offended, or did any thing wrong, he spoke of its 
being a breach in his house ; also of himself and his tribe as 
being two persons, “ Taua ka haere/ - ’ — “ Let us two go / 3 
that is, I and my tribe. 
The grand object of the chiefs was to excite fear amongst 
their enemies by every possible means ; the doing so almost 
* The abode of high chiefs was generally apart from others, being compared 
to great fish, reptiles, or monsters, like them they were said to live in deep 
holes or caves of the earth, this is particularly mentioned in all the old tradi- 
tions, and it appears to have been anciently the case amongst other nations. 
(See Sam. xvii. 8, 9.) 
